1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus and a control method therefor and, more particularly, to a technique of switching a display mode during shooting standby.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is conventionally known an image capturing apparatus which transits to a shooting standby state wherein a through-the lens-image (live view image) is displayed in response to halfway press of a shutter button during a playback mode or display of a setting menu or the like. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-33752 proposes an image capturing apparatus which ceases to display a playback image or setting menu, displays a through-the lens-image on a display unit, and transits to a shooting standby state, in response to halfway or full press of a release button in a playback mode or setup mode.
On the other hand, there is known an image capturing apparatus which superimposes and displays information of currently set shooting conditions or information for supporting a shooting operation on a through-the lens-image displayed in a shooting standby state. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-243923 discloses a technique of switching, in response to the operation of a single operation member, a display mode from a plurality of display modes for which information superimposed and displayed on a through-the lens-image is different.
Consider a case in which there is a display mode wherein a number of pieces of setting information are displayed without displaying a through-the lens-image (live view image) as one of a plurality of display modes in a shooting standby state like Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-243923, in addition to the playback mode and setup menu in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-33752. In this case, if the user cannot check the composition by watching a through-the lens-image before giving a shooting instruction by, for example, fully pressing the shutter button after giving a shooting preparation instruction by, for example, pressing the shutter button halfway, it becomes difficult to perform shooting with a composition intended by the user, thereby impairing the usability. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-33752, however, only discloses a technique in which the apparatus transits to a shooting standby state when the release button is operated while the apparatus is not in the shooting standby state. That is, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-33752 does not consider control when the release button is operated in the display mode wherein no through-the lens-image is displayed even though the apparatus is in the shooting standby state.